Following her semi-final showing in Madrid, third seed Agnieszka Radwanska has arrived in Rome, where she will be looking to make another deep run in the tournament’s draw, starting with her second round opponent Paula Ormaechea. This is the second time they will cross paths on the WTA tour, with Radwanksa leading the head-to-head series 1-0.

World No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska has had a strong season so far in 2014, having reached the semi-final at the Australian Open and the final at Indian Wells, which boosted her ranking to its current high. While she did lose to Alize Cornet in the Katowice semi-final, she rebounded with a strong 2-0 weekend for her Fed Cup team, but would have her momentum halted in the quarter-final round of Stuttgart, when she lost to eventual champion Maria Sharapova. She would lose to Sharapova a second time at the Mutua Madrid Open semi-finals, where she barely managed five games against the Russian.

World No. 73 Paula Ormaechea defeated Kurumi Nara in the opening round of the Italian Open on Monday afternoon to set up a second round clash with the third seed. Prior to that earlier encounter, she was winless in the main draw of a WTA event since Bogata, putting her at 10-12 so far this season. The Argentine has initially lost to Casey Dellacqua in the qualifying rounds but was later placed into the tournament as a lucky loser.

This marks the second time these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, with Radwanska leading the head-to-head series 1-0 with a victory back in 2012. This is the first time they will meet on clay, which will still heavily favour the crafty Pole. Expect a strong staright sets performance from Aga.

Prediction: Agnieszka Radwanska in Straight Sets

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